* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: President Rawlings Blake
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
Title
Informational Hearing - Heroin Addiction Treatment - Buprenorphine
FOR the purpose of requesting the Commissioner of Health to report to the City Council on the status of drug abuse treatment in Baltimore; the success of new treatment protocols; the prognosis for the efficacy of future substance abuse treatment, and the projected fiscal requirements to implement a proactive treatment program to successfully address the needs of Baltimore's addicted population in future years.
Body
Recitals
As reported in, Heroin Addiction Treatment Correlates in Maryland: Revised March 12, 2007, by the Center for Health Program Development and Management, UMBC, as sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation under a grant by the Baltimore City Health Department: "The societal burden associated with heroin addiction is substantial. Avoidable financial costs and personal suffering associated with such addiction include increased utilization of emergency health care services, increased crime, lost productivity, and increases in serious illness often leading to premature death. With regard to the financial burden alone, a recent review determined that heroin-associated medical, lost earnings, and illegal activity costs totaled approximately $20 billion per year in the United States alone."
In report on drug abuse in Maryland in 2007, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency reports: "Heroin is abused throughout Maryland, but is centered in and around the city of Baltimore, where high-purity heroin is readily available. Baltimore is home to higher numbers of heroin addicts and heroin-related crime than almost any other city in the nation and these problems tend to spill over into adjoining counties where many heroin distributors maintain residences. The enormous demand for heroin in the Baltimore metropolitan area led to an increase in the drug's abuse among teens and young adults, who routinely drive into the city to obtain heroin for themselves and other local abusers.
To date, the most common treatment available to addicts to help them withdraw and abstain from heroin, an opioid, use has been the use of an opioid agonist (promoter) - methadone. However, the use of methadone has proven to be less than perfect because it is not universally effective - studies show that only 1 in 4 heroin addicts receives successful methadone treatment. And, in addition, the dispensing of methadone is heavily regulated by federal law because methadone itself is an addictive drug.
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NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That .
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That .
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to.
DRAFT 21MAR07 DRAFT 21MAR07
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DRAFT 21MAR07 DRAFT 21MAR07
dlr07-1233~intro/21Mar07
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